WOMEN'S HISTORY MOMENT: HONORING DR. OLA OREKUNRIN, CEO AND FOUNDER OF FLYING DOCTORS OF NIGERIA (3127 hits)
Ola Orekunrin is a British-Nigerian medical doctor and Managing director of Flying Doctors of Nigeria; a charity based in Lagos, Nigeria.
Ola was born in London, England and grew up under the care of foster parents in Lowestoft. Her name "Ola" means "Wealth" in Yoruba. Ola graduated from Hull York Medical School at the age of 21, becoming one of the youngest medical doctors in the United Kingdom.
Ola Orekunrin was studying to become a doctor in the UK a few years ago when her younger sister fell seriously ill while traveling in Nigeria. The 12-year-old girl, who'd gone to the West African country on holiday with relatives, needed urgent care but the nearest hospital couldn't deal with her condition.
Orekunrin and her family immediately began looking for an air ambulance service to rapidly transport the girl, a sickle cell anemia sufferer, to a more suitable healthcare facility. They searched all across West Africa but were stunned to find out there was none in the whole region.
"The nearest one at the time was in South Africa," remembers Orekunrin. "They had a 12-hour activation time so by the time they were ready to activate, my sister was dead.
"It was really a devastating time for me and I started thinking about whether I should be in England talking about healthcare in Africa, or I should be in Africa dealing with healthcare and trying to do something about it."
Orekunrin did the latter. After graduation from the University of York as a qualified doctor she was then awarded the MEXT Japanese Government Scholarship and moved to Japan to conduct research in the field of regenerative medicine. After moving back to Europe the young doctor looked set for a promising career in medicine in the UK.
Ola worked for ten years with the National Health Service, United Kingdom. But her desire to improve healthcare services in West Africa brought her back to her roots. Motivated by the tragic death of her sister, the young doctor decided to leave behind a high-flying job in the UK to take to the Nigerian skies and address the vital issue of urgent healthcare in Africa's most populous country.
As an helicopter pilot with specialised training in aviation medicine, she pioneered the first air operated Emergency medical services in Lagos, Nigeria; Flying Doctors Nigeria Ltd. Currently in its third year, the Lagos-based company has so far airlifted about 500 patients, using a fleet of planes and helicopters to rapidly move injured workers and critically ill people from remote areas to hospitals.
"From patients with road traffic trauma, to bomb blast injuries to gunshot wounds, we save lives by moving these patients and providing a high level of care en route," says Orekunrin.
"Many of our roads are poorly maintained, so emergency transport by road during the day is difficult. At night, we have armed robbers on our major highways; coupled with poor lighting and poor state of the roads themselves, emergency transport by road is deadly for both patients and staff."
Ola is a member of both the American Academy of Aesthetic Surgeons and the British Medical Association. She was listed among Young Global leaders by World Economic Forum in 2013.
